School improvement hinges on an important factor – the professional practice of teachers in the classroom. Because effective teaching is the key to strong learning, teachers should select the most effective and contextually appropriate teaching techniques to help students learn and become self-growers. Implementing these techniques can help students engage not only with the content, but also with their own growth and success. Implementation, however, takes careful planning. Doug Lemov’s book, Teach Like a Champion , has received national attention. The methods described by Lemov can and do work for many teachers, administrators and some students. He provides names for techniques that create a common language, instead of a vague description of a strategy. What makes Lemov’s ideas so effective is that they are intentional. Many teachers utilize powerful and effective strategies, but often they do not purposefully employ them. The beauty of Lemov’s book is that these are techniques we should practice and intentionally plan to use. We will explore and discuss the strategies shared by Lemov and integrate them into our student-centered practices. We recognize that the behaviorist teacher-centered model or some variation is still (officially or unofficially) the most prevalent educational philosophy/system in the majority of today’s American schools or classrooms. It is not always as successfully implemented as it is shown in Lemov’s book, but this model is what many teachers, administrators, and even parents expect to see in schools. For the many reasons outlined above, we believe that Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion is pertinent and relevant to our professional practice and is an ideal text to serve as the basis for a TSG at our school. Reading Lemov’s text and applying the techniques will lead teachers to engage in authentic, thought provoking dialogue about a topic meaningful to our daily professional practice.
2010 - 2011 Participants Cara Bakos James Bigsby Theresa Burns Christina Dunne Anita Dunphy Doreen Golembeski Abby Landau Myra Leven Carol Macken Linda Mouravieff Mary Anne O'Hara Leah Schleer Robyn Stevens Jeff Stiefbold Tracey Tufano Rebecca Vecchione Anna Walek Lisa Zevin
School improvement hinges on an important factor – the professional practice of teachers in the classroom. Because effective teaching is the key to strong learning, teachers should select the most effective and contextually appropriate teaching techniques to help students learn and become self-growers. Implementing these techniques can help students engage not only with the content, but also with their own growth and success. Implementation, however, takes careful planning.Doug Lemov’s book, Teach Like a Champion , has received national attention. The methods described by Lemov can and do work for many teachers, administrators and some students. He provides names for techniques that create a common language, instead of a vague description of a strategy. What makes Lemov’s ideas so effective is that they are intentional. Many teachers utilize powerful and effective strategies, but often they do not purposefully employ them. The beauty of Lemov’s book is that these are techniques we should practice and intentionally plan to use.
We will explore and discuss the strategies shared by Lemov and integrate them into our student-centered practices. We recognize that the behaviorist teacher-centered model or some variation is still (officially or unofficially) the most prevalent educational philosophy/system in the majority of today’s American schools or classrooms. It is not always as successfully implemented as it is shown in Lemov’s book, but this model is what many teachers, administrators, and even parents expect to see in schools.
For the many reasons outlined above, we believe that Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion is pertinent and relevant to our professional practice and is an ideal text to serve as the basis for a TSG at our school. Reading Lemov’s text and applying the techniques will lead teachers to engage in authentic, thought provoking dialogue about a topic meaningful to our daily professional practice.
2010 - 2011 Participants
Cara Bakos
James Bigsby
Theresa Burns
Christina Dunne
Anita Dunphy
Doreen Golembeski
Abby Landau
Myra Leven
Carol Macken
Linda Mouravieff
Mary Anne O'Hara
Leah Schleer
Robyn Stevens
Jeff Stiefbold
Tracey Tufano
Rebecca Vecchione
Anna Walek
Lisa Zevin